Pottstown man who threatened neighbor jailed on gun charge

NORRISTOWN – A Pottstown man is headed to state prison for illegally possessing a handgun, a crime uncovered after authorities alleged he used it to threaten a neighbor.

Scott Michael Ketterer, 19, of the 300 block of West Chestnut Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 33-72 months in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of person not to possess a firearm in connection with the July 2012 incident.

Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, recommended Ketterer be eligible for the state’s military-style, motivational Quehanna Boot Camp in Clearfield County, which offers young offenders a rigid disciplinary and training program. The judge ordered Ketterer to forfeit the gun to county detectives.

Police were called to the area of Chestnut and Charlotte streets around 11:12 a.m. July 20, 2012, after they received a report of a man, later identified as Ketterer, who had threatened a neighbor with a gun, according to a criminal complaint.

Pottstown Police Officer Ronald Taylor explained in the arrest affidavit that he was en route along with several other officers when he learned Ketterer was believed to be armed with a silver handgun with a brown handle. Taylor and other officers learned that Ketterer had run north on Charlotte Street and then east on Chestnut Street from the scene.

Officers searched the area for Ketterer and he was located by Sgt. Brian Rathgeb and officer Nikolaus Stoltzfus in the area of Evans Street and Union Alley, but he ran from them and headed north on Evans Street, then on Beech Street when he “hopped the fence” at 351 Beech St., according to the complaint.

Police said they found Ketterer trying to hide in the backyard of 344 Jefferson Ave. when he was taken into custody. Police also found a quantity of suspected marijuana and a pill in the area where Ketterer was hiding, court papers indicate.

Detective Mark Wickersham discovered a handgun which matched the description of the gun Ketterer allegedly displayed to the victim, the arrest affidavit indicates. The gun was described in court papers as a .38 Special Revolver.

Police said one of the bags found with Ketterer contained approximately 30 grams of marijuana, while there were several other smaller bags also containing marijuana, according to the affidavit. The pill that was found with the other drugs was identified as oxycodone.

Charges of terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and various drug-related offenses were dismissed against Ketterer in exchange for his plea to the more serious weapons offense.